Iguanas Successfully Reintroduced to Galapagos Island After They Were Last Seen By Darwin 184 Years Ago

By McKinley Corbley for Good News Network.

It has been almost 200 years since land iguanas were seen on this region of the Galapagos Islands – but thanks to an intensive park restoration project, the reptile has just been reintroduced to its natural habitat once more.

The land iguana was wiped out from the park’s Santiago Island due to
invasive predators such as feral pigs, rats, and dogs preying on their
eggs.

Due to careful conservation measures and the removal of these
invasive species, however, ecologists successfully managed to
transfer 1,436 iguanas from another region of the park to Santiago
Island this week.

“The presence of living land iguanas on Santiago Island was reported
for the last time in 1835, during the visit that Charles Darwin made to
the northeast of the island,” said the Galapagos National Park Facebook
page. “Almost two centuries later, this ecosystem will once again have
this species through this restoration initiative.”